NEDA Fall Festival 2011 - New England Dressage Association

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Help Bring the Green Mountain Horse Association Back from Hurricane Irene It all started when Hurricane Irene blew in on August 28th. My horses were happily munching on hay in their stalls in our cozy 200 year old Weathersfield, Vermont barn. The power didn’t even go out at our house. Yes. It was a lot of rain. But the wind didn’t blow and our place stayed relatively dry, so we thought all was good. Monday morning we awoke to news of massive flooding statewide. I checked my email and Facebook. Horrifying pictures were coming in. Bridges were washed out. Houses, barns and fields were swept away. One of the most devastating videos, for me, was the clip my friend, Garry, posted showing his drive past the Green Mountain Horse Association in South Woodstock on Sunday afternoon. That quiet little brook which I’ve crossed so many times to get from the Dust Bowl to the Walker Ring had jumped its banks and the water was at least waist deep all the way from the Dust Bowl to “D” Barn. The barns, parking areas, bridges, cross country fences and vehicles were submerged or floating all along Route 106, all the way to the Upwey Barn. By Wednesday the shock of the whole thing had settled in. Now what? I am a painter. When I have to work things Hurricane Irene took it’s toll on the GMHA grounds. i The New England Dressage Association j � BY LISA CURRY MAIR • WWW.CURRYMAIRDESIGNS.COM � Lisa Curry Mair’s painting is available as a poster to help raise funds to rebuild GMHA’s buildings and grounds. Go to www.gmhainc.org/irenedamage.html for more information. out in my head, answers come in pictures. GMHA was calling to me. I spent the next three days creating a painting of the way GMHA should be. I painted sunny skies, grassy fields, horses doing dressage, cross country, jumping and driving. Then it occurred to me that maybe this painting could help GMHA. The company that does GMHA’s printing offered to print it as a poster for the cost of the paper. Beth Jenkins offered to let me sell them at the NEDA Fall Festival as a Fundraiser. My mother volunteered to help out at the show, since she knew I’d be focused on riding my tests. GMHA gave us their display wall. Everyone has been on board with this project from the get-go. We sold posters on Saturday and Sunday and raised more than $1600 to go towards GMHA’s Flood Recovery Fund. Now the posters are available on GMHA’s website at http://www.gmhainc.org/irenedamage.html . They are $40 and every penny goes directly to rebuilding GMHA’s buildings and grounds. I will be at the Pasta Dinner and Auction on October 1st and on Oct. 2nd at the Fall Dressage Show to sign posters. Check out and bid now on items in the Silent Auction at http://straffordsaddleryshop.com/2011- GMHA-silentauction.htm Z 26 To become a NEDA member visit our website at: www.neda.org
i A Tip of the Hat j Brookside Stable of Vermont Suffers Severe Damage from Hurricane Irene To those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ann Brown from Brookside Stables in Wilmington, Vermont. Our farm has been owned and operated by three generations on land that has been in the family for over 100 years. Our main goal is to provide solid instruction for youth from the very start of their horse career and to assist the everyday rider with practical common sense horsemanship, to create a better partnership with their horse. My daughter Melissa Elliot, Shelby Lawrence (ShelbyLoo’s Ponies), and I together have 21 horses here on our property and currently offer lessons, training, and boarding year round. Like many others in Vermont, August 28th was a day we will never forget. We are in a low-lying area and though our barn has never before flooded, we had between 3-6 feet of water rise into our various buildings within an hour of the first trickle. When we realized the possible extent of what could be happening, we immediately started moving our horses to evacuate. With only a 3-horse trailer and water waist deep, we knew trailering to a nearby farm was not nearly quick enough. So several of us started taking two each in hand and running them up the road to safety. Amazingly, a neighboring farm had an empty horse barn with 12 standing stalls we could fill. With six others already trailered elsewhere, we had three left with no choice but to place them in the trailer up the hill from the barn while the water continued to rise. I have never appreciated the generosity and patience of every single one of our animals more than that Sunday. We lost hay, bedding, and all of our pasture fencing. We have soaked gritty tack and equipment in piles. But every single one of our animals is safe and sound. We are incredibly thankful that the flooding came on during the day, and have to actively stop saying ‘what if, what if’. I still can’t walk into my indoor ring without feeling the tears coming back. We had 7 horses temporarily stabled there during the storm and every time I see the 6 ft water mark I stress over what they would have went through if we were not able to get them out. And then we have had angels appearing. We cannot give enough thanks to the volunteers who have shown up in droves to pitch in to get us back on our feet. Whether it is a strong back to help us clean, tractors to help scrape the sludge off the field, or donations of hay, such as the incredi- � BY ANN BROWN, OWNER OF BROOKSIDE STABLES � Like many others in Vermont, August 28th was a day we will never forget. We are in a lowlying area and though our barn has never before flooded, we had between 3-6 feet of water rise into our various buildings within an hour of the first trickle. The flood waters not quite at it's worst. At it's worst you could not see the ring fence at all. ble and generous load of hay that Claudia from Turtle Hollow Dressage brought down for us this week. Prior to the flood, we had a large amount of grazing space with all of our horses on fulltime grass. With the amount of contaminates floating through our fields they are off limits until at least spring, putting us far far over our estimated hay usage for the year. When Claudia, who has no ties to our barn, called to say she was organizing a hay drive at the dressage show, we were blown away by the generosity. To anyone who pitched in to contribute what amounted to be an incredible 160 bales of hay, several bags of shaving, and a sack of apples, we want to send out the biggest thank you we possibly can. If you are ever in the area, come visit us and let us pass on the hugs and thank you’s that you really deserve. And if you are ever in need, we are here to do our best to ‘pay it forward’. Check us out as brooksidestables.com and keep in touch! Z CAROLE MACDONALD � � � � Equine Photography Official Photographer for the New England Dressage Association carolemacdonald@verizon.net 1 bowman ln. | westboro, ma 01581 | 508.366.7886 October 2011 27
Page 1 and 2: October 2011 Saugerties, New York -
Page 3 and 4: Ijust returned from NEDA Fall Festi
Page 5 and 6: i A Tip of the Hat j October 2011 5
Page 9 and 10: (Fall Festival continued from page
Page 11 and 12: i A Tip of the Hat j (Para-Equestri
Page 13 and 14: i A Tip of the Hat j Results from t
Page 15 and 16: i A Tip of the Hat j NEDA Fall Fest
Page 23 and 24: NEDA is Pleased to Announce the Vol
Page 25: • Bring your horse to train/show
Page 29 and 30: (Hay Drive continued from page 28)
Page 33 and 34: Classifieds TACK SADDLES - (2) 17'

NEDA Fall Festival 2011 - New England Dressage Association

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